A few short days after the federal government announced funding programs, in part to top up Wellington County municipalities, the new United States President signed his own program into law. It seems to be the thing to do, as leaders around the world and at all levels of government fall over themselves to spend. We do not see it as a panacea.
While the funds will surely benefit cash strapped government bodies and in turn Canadians, we cannot help but wonder about the long-term effects of going into deficit again. We can picture a couple old grandfathers we know well, seething at the thought of putting debt onto their grandchildren and potentially great grandchildren. More of us should feel that way, but alas, there continues to be an insatiable appetite to consume more than we really need.
Society’s contempt for next generations is nothing new. Having lived through decades of relative prosperity, relying on heavy doses of inflation, investments that always seemed to go up and budgets offset with deficits, it is natural for Canadians to believe the same old ways will dig us out of the present mess. We can hope anyway.
The far reaching effects of legislation fall fairly close to home. In the province of Ontario, our leaders have sat on their hands watching good paying manufacturing jobs evaporate in recent years.
Part of it has to do with multi-nationals producing goods off-shore and importing them back at a heavy discount. As Canadians marched into discount stores looking for cheaper goods, there was nary a concern for fellow workers. We sought cheaper goods and in many respects got what we paid for. Our lust for consumer goods drove the economy for many years while we lived through the best of times, developing a false sense of security in the ability of our economy to keep the good times rolling.
While we, too, enjoyed Family Day this past Monday, it stands as a good example of legislated largesse, signed into law with little regard for its effect.
One cost estimate we heard was $2-billion for employers in Ontario. Premier Dalton McGuinty was heralded for that move, yet few recognized it as the drain it is on companies.
Another punitive measure courtesy of the provincial Liberals was Worker’s Compensation fees being charged to owners and family members who have very little chance of collecting – ever. In some cases, the implications are over $5,000 per year per family business. The Employer Health Tax increased teeth for labour inspections and numerous other plans that sounded great are now coming home to roost for businesses already down on their luck, arguably through little fault of their own.
The burden of overhead continues to mount with little return, let alone relief in sight.
Our own MPP, Ted Arnott attempted to draw interest to the issue of manufacturing jobs that were in jeopardy and disappearing, but the premier ignored that issue. Today, good paying job loss is out of control, exacerbated by global economic uncertainty.
It behooves citizens to watch what is signed into law and ponder its effect – because they are the ones who ultimately pay.
